Entered on the War Department ledger as dead ...

Chariton's Staff Sgt. Richard L. Patterson, 23, and assigned to the 300th Engineer Combat Battalion, was on board Tank Landing Ship No. 523 (LST-523) on June 19, 1944, 13 days after the D-Day landings.

The ship, sometimes jokingly referred to by passengers and crew as "Long Slow Target," already had made two successful Channel crossings from Falmouth, England, delivering supplies and combatants and evacuating the wounded.

But there was a great storm in progress this time, as LST-523 maneuvered from the Utah Beach anchorage to the beachhead. Great swells raised the ship high, then dropped it --- to the level of German mines that under ordinary circumstances it would have cleared.

LST-523 struck one of those mines; the explosion split the ship into two pieces and 94 men of the 300th, including Richard, and 41 crew members died. His remains never were recovered.

His only "tombstone" is a name engraved among 1,557 others on the Wall of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery, Collevillel-sur-Mer (above).

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Staff Sgt. Patterson, just a month short of his 24th birthday, was a son of Carrie (Becker) Witherell/Ellis and her first husband, Creed Patterson. He had a younger brother, Lester, also engaged in combat in Europe, was married to Mildred Foutch and they had a daughter, Patricia.

Richard had enlisted to serve in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during July of 1940 and had been assigned with a U.S. Army engineering unit to the Canada-Alaska Highway Project for a year before he was deployed overseas during October of 1943.

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Staff Sgt. Patterson's family learned during late July of 1944 that he was missing in action --- more than a month after his ship had gone down. The Chariton Leader of Aug. 1 reported his status under the headline, "Sgt. R.L. Patterson Missing in Action."

Mrs. Carrie Witherell, of Chariton, has been apprised by the War Department that her son, Staff Sergeant Richard L. Patterson, 23, of this city, is missing in action in France since June 19.

S. Sgt. Patterson enlisted from Chariton in the service with the engineers four years ago July 5th and was sent overseas last October.

His wife and daughter are residing in Des Moines and his father, Creed Patterson, lives in Exline. He is a grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Lee Patterson, of East Linden avenue.

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It would appear that Richard's family, hearing nothing further from the military, wrote a letter in search of additional information. On Oct. 19, The Herald-Patriot published the following update:

Information about S-Sgt. Richard L. Patterson, son of Mrs. Carrie Witherell of Chariton and a grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Lee Patterson, Chariton, has been received from his captain. Patterson has been reported missing in action and this letter was in answer to one that had been sent requesting more information. It follows:

"I am writing in reply to your letter concerning your son, S-Sgt. Richard L. Patterson.

"S-Sgt. Patterson was aboard an LST which was sunk off the coast of France on 19th of June, 1944, presumably by enemy mines. The LST was en route from England to France. To date no one of this organization has seen no heard of S-Sgt. Patterson and he is being carried as Missing in Action until such time as his exact status can be determined or he can be found. The War Department will inform you and his wife of any change of status by the most expedient means.

"The above are the only details available at this time. If I can be of any further service to you at any time in the future, please do not hesitate to call upon me. Sincerely, Gene P. Faley, Captain, C.E., Commanding."

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Five months later, Staff Sgt. Patterson was officially declared dead and his family informed. The following brief item was published in The Leader on March 13, 1945:

Richard L. Patterson, son of Mrs. Carrie Witherell, Chariton, and Creed Patterson, Exline, has been officially declared dead.

Patterson, who was a staff sergeant, was lost on a landing craft on June 19, 1944, as his boat was nearing the French coast. It was lost due to enemy action. He had been missing in action following this and last week he was entered on the war department ledger as dead.